Tyrants should be left free to tyrannise their own people

Imposing democracy is against international law

Speaker: Robert Skidelsky

Arguin gin favour of the motion 'Tyrants should be left free to tyrannise their own people', Lord Skidelsky claims that, contrary to the opinion of James Rubin, we are indeed talking about military intervention, since sanctions do not put pressure on tyrants. He says it’s not a case of being in favour of tyrants, it's a question of getting rid of tyrants by force measured against the cost of allowing them to carry on. We shouldn't try to impose democracy because it is contrary to the law of nations: the doctrine of national sovereignty that goes back to Westphalia. He doesn't believe that tyrants should be allowed to get away with anything, especially genocide, but thinks there are many ways of bringing pressure against tyrants, including sanctions.